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Of all the statistics from the recent New Year’s Eve in Times Square — 1 million revelers, 2,000 pounds of confetti, thousands of police officers, dozens of surveillance cameras — there is one number that stands out: zero, as in zero tickets for low-level crimes.
No tickets for having an open container of alcohol, no tickets for public urination, no tickets for double parking, no tickets for furry, costumed characters hassling tourists to take their picture. Add in low-level arrests, and there was just one, for a subway-related offense.
And that wasn’t just on New Year’s Eve. That was for the entire week containing the holiday. During the Christmas week, when the neon-lit streets were every bit as jammed, the total for such infractions was 23 — compared to more than 650 summonses per week the previous year, according to police statistics.
Times Square is perhaps the most jarring example of a slowdown in low-level enforcement across New York City amid tension between rank-and-file police and Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom they accuse of encouraging violence against cops by siding with protesters after the chokehold death of Eric Garner. They were particularly incensed by comments in which the mayor warned his biracial son to be wary in dealing with officers.
In the two weeks after two NYPD officers were shot to death in their patrol car Dec. 20 by a fugitive who had ranted online about avenging police killings, low-level arrests citywide dropped 61 percent. Summonses were down more than 90 percent. Arraignment courts have been so slow they have sometimes closed early, and Rikers Island’s jails have about 2,000 fewer inmates.
“They haven’t been on top of us like they used to,” Luis Martinez said on a recent night in Times Square, where he roams the streets in a Cookie Monster costume posing for photos in hopes of tips. “They’re minding their own business now.”
New York must have the most “no class” bunch of White Trash for police officers I’ve ever seen! Are they so dumb that they did not realize that they were also disrespecting their comrade when they turned their backs on the Mayor? Yes, I am so sorry that your officers were shot but it had nothing to do with the peaceful protesters march, this guy was crazy and he was going to shoot someone that day besides his girlfriend due to his mental illness! My God what is the USA coming to?? It seems everybody and their grand mammy wants to pack a weapon! It seems everyone is looking for an excuse to shoot somebody! Packing a gun does not make you a man or a woman it makes you a mouse with tiny nuts!! We can thank the NRA for this BS!